In a relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Supreme Court today granted him exemption from personal appearance before a magisterial court at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in a case of alleged inflammatory speech made by him in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
"The attendance of the petitioner is dispensed away with till further order," a bench comprising justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre said.
The bench also issued notice to Uttar Pradesh government on Kejriwal's appeal against the Allahabad High Court order asking him to first appear before the trial court and then seek personal exemption on subsequent date of hearing.
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A trial court at Amethi had recently issued bailable warrant against Kejriwal after refusing to grant him personal exemption from appearance in the case.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the Aam Aadmi Party convenor, said Kejriwal should have been granted exemption from personal appearance as in such cases, an accused can be allowed to be represented through his lawyer.
Referring to various provisions of CrPC, he said the magistrate can dispense away with the presence of the accused.
The case was filed against the politician under Section 125 of Representation of People's Act for allegedly making inflammatory speech during Lok Sabha polls on May 2, 2014.
The section deals with the offence of promoting enmity between classes in connection with election on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language and entails imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or fine, or both.
